Review: Hidden by Marianne Curley

Title: Hidden.
Series: Avena, #1.
Author: Marianne Curley.
Publication Date: March 14th, 2013.
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
Format: Paperback, 325 pages.
Source: ARC Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:



Ebony has always known that she is different. Her violet eyes mark her out, and her protective parents have kept her in a gorgeous valley, home-schooled, safe from everything—almost as if she’s being hidden. But she’s changing: glowing, getting more and more beautiful, and stronger than anyone knows.

Ebony can’t stay hidden for ever, and when she meets complicated, intense Jordan, something explodes inside her—something that can be seen from the heavens; something that changes everything. Ebony is a stolen angel, concealed on Earth. Now the heavens have found her, they want her back.

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Ebony has always known she was different; she has violet coloured eyes, can run faster than any boy in her school and heals remarkably quickly. She’s always thought the reason her parents have kept her sheltered from the world is because they didn’t want her to draw attention – but she was wrong. Ebony is an Angel, stolen as an infant, concealed on earth and raised by her adoptive parents. Ebony soon realises she can’t stay hidden forever, and now the heavens have found her – and they want her back.

I enjoyed reading this book, I really did – It had its good points; but unfortunately the bad ones outweighed the good. Whilst reading the first half of Hidden, I was sure I was going to be rating it a 4/5 star book. However, as the action started and the book progressed further into the story, I was quite disappointed with lots of different things that played out. This has nothing to do with Marianne’s writing; I just don’t think Hidden was structured very well at all.

Hidden switches between two of the main characters perspectives; Ebony and Jordan. As I’ve mentioned many times before in my reviews, I love reading multiple perspective books, they’re incredibly interesting and I love knowing what the other characters are actually feeling, rather than what they say they’re feeling. This was no exception and I thought the chapters were cleverly divided between the two characters perspectives.

Ebony is our female protagonist. She’s sixteen years old and has led a very sheltered life by her parents, growing up in the small valley of a town. I know the author has written Ebony’s character to be very relatable and interesting, but, personally; I didn’t like her that much at all. It’s a bit of a rare occasion for me to find a main, female character that I don’t like. Usually, in the novels I’ve read, the female lead has at least two or three characteristics that will warm me to them. Ebony, however, only has one – and that is her violet coloured eyes. What I wouldn’t do to have eyes like that! Her character isn’t a very strong-willed person, nor is she particularly funny, kind or interesting in any way I had hoped. This is not to say that I hated her character, I just thought she was very bland and unexceptional.

Moving onto Jordan’s character – what can I say? I loved him – it’s as simple as that. He’s lived in the system for most of his life since his mother died and left him orphaned, and has been bounced around in foster homes ever since. Jordan is the stark opposite of Ebony; he’s funny, snarky, sarcastic, strong-willed, sweet and kind. His character was just so full of life and seemed the most realistic and interesting of the three main characters. Jordan’s character proves that Marianne can create a relatable and great character – even if I didn’t like her other characters.

Lastly, onto Thane’s character – I really didn’t like him at all. Thane reminded me of the beach hotties you see on TV, with everything down there and nothing in his head. His character was such a typical cliché; strong, muscular, handsome – someone all the girls fall head over hills for. The romance between Thane and Ebony is insta-love, and I hated it. I’m not usually a fan of insta-love, but there are some exceptions – and this was NOT it. Thane and Ebony’s relationship was way over the top, ‘I’ve just met you and this is crazy, but I can’t live without you – so call me baby’. I really disliked how Ebony suddenly disregarded what kindling feelings of romance she had towards Jordan when she met Thane. I understand that they have a ‘connection’ but it was just too much, too soon in my opinion.

Overall, I liked reading this book, but I doubt I’d read it again. Two of the three main characters were flat and disappointing, but I do believe the plotline had great potential if only the characters and world building was developed more. I felt like it was rushed in many places, where I thought more time should have been spent on. It was also very confusing at times, and I found myself lost and wondering what was happening in the story. I’d recommend Hidden to any readers who are fans of Angels; but I’d warn them not to go in with high hopes – it was a pretty good novel – but I doubt it would stand out in a crowd. I will, however, try and read more from Marianne Curley in the future.

A Fun Little Extra
I was lead on my bed reading this book, thinking I was reading Jordan’s POV chapter, until I read this paragraph:
He’s leaving, and my heart trembles. He looks down at me, curled into his chest, and he stroked my hair. His touch sets my pulse racing.
‘Come back to me,’ I whisper. ‘Please come back’.
He inhales a shuddering breath, tilts my face up with his thumb under my chin. His kiss is gentle and greedy, soft and fierce, everything and not enough.
Standing on my toes, I throw my arms around his neck, push my fingers into his hair to let him know how much I want him.

My reaction? “...I’m sorry, what?! Since when did Jordan turn gay?” *starts flipping pages frantically* “Did I miss something?!” I’m blinking at an alarming rate, giggling and very confused, until I realise I’m actually reading Ebony’s chapter. ^^;

Quotes

Nothing shimmers as bright as the connection between a Guardian and their human charge at the time of the human's death, or, as in this situation, his near death. It's what alerts the Guardian to act fast. And so the face with the Death Watchers begins. - Page 44.

The tall guy lifts his head and searches for my eyes. The joining is sudden and powerful and stronger than anything I’ve experienced before. I can’t look elsewhere and have to stop myself from running and jumping into this stranger’s arms. And he’s such a beautiful stranger! Tall, with blond hair and fair skin that appears to glow softly. There’s something about him that’s truly ethereal. - Page 186.

He’s leaving, and my heart trembles. He looks down at me, curled into his chest, and he stroked my hair. His touch sets my pulse racing.
‘Come back to me,’ I whisper. ‘Please come back’.
He inhales a shuddering breath, tilts my face up with his thumb under my chin. His kiss is gentle and greedy, soft and fierce, everything and not enough. Standing on my toes, I throw my arms around his neck, push my fingers into his hair to let him know how much I want him. – Page 298.

Review: The Harvesting by Melanie Karsak

Title: The Harvesting.
Series: The Harvesting, #1.
Author: Melanie Karsak.
Publication Date: September 13th, 2012.
Publisher: Steampunk Press.
Format: Kindle eBook.
Source: Recieved e-copy for blog tour.
My Rating:



It's all fun and games until someone ends up undead.

Though Layla reluctantly returns home to rural Hamletville after a desperate call from her psychic grandmother, she could never have anticipated the horror of what Grandma Petrovich has foreseen. The residents of Hamletville will need Layla's help if they are to survive the zombie apocalypse that's upon them. But that is not the only problem. With mankind silenced, it soon becomes apparent that we were never alone. As the beings living on the fringe seek to reclaim power, Layla must find a way to protect the ones she loves or all humanity may be lost.

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Layla is living successfully and happily in New York when she receives a rather anxious and demanding phone call from the psychic Grandmother that raised her. Layla’s Grandma demands that she must return to her home town straight away, and then hangs up without giving a reason. When Layla arrives, she finds her Grandmother has been stockpiling supplies, getting rid of unnecessary objects and sends Layla out on errands to gather even more necessities – all, again, without telling her what’s going on. Her Grandma teachers her how to load and shoot the firearms she’s stocked up on, and puts her into an induced sleep. Once Layla awakens, she finds the Zombie Apocalypse has spread to her town, turning many of the people into flesh eating Zombies, her Grandma is missing and she now has psychic abilities. However, Layla has to push all that aside as she tries her best to protect the town and the people in it; who have all of a sudden turned to her for guidance.

The Harvesting was a great New Adult/Adult post apocalyptic and fantasy novel all squished into one. I liked this book, I really did; it contained humour and just enough romance to satisfy my girlish need. However there were quite a few things that just irritated me, didn’t seem to fit or I found brought the rating of the book down in general.

Layla, our main character, is the kick-ass heroine who appears in town and helps save the day - pretty predictable, right? Although I liked Layla’s character overall, I didn’t feel that she was very well developed at all. Layla is a fencing/martial arts sword instructor and curator. As the book progressed, I kept hoping that we’d find out more about Layla’s character, past and personality but I was disappointed. She has bad history in the town, leaving after a messy breakup with her high school sweetheart four years ago and hasn’t returned since. The only characteristics I managed to pick up from Layla is that she’s strong-willed, a great sword wielder and a natural born leader.

Throughout the entire novel, we meet quite a few new people from the small town. Although they’re pretty much glossed over and not well described; it was fun to read about them as they blended into the story. Two people we meet in particular are Ian and Jamie, who are brothers from the town. Ian is Layla’s high school sweetheart and ex-boyfriend. I hated Ian from the start, not just because of the things he did to Layla in the past, but because his character was a complete and utter jerk. Jamie is a sweet and kind guy, who’s just come back to the town from being in Iraq as a medic. I loved Jamie from the start, he was such an easy going guy that you could tell that Layla could fully relax and be herself around him.

Although I was disappointed not to know more about the characters personalities, it didn’t stop me from wanting to continue reading this novel. I did find that the novel was constantly jumping from scene to scene; often jumping a month or so into the future with no pre-warning – which was really annoying and hard to keep up with. I also wished there was a lot more detailing than there was, it felt like the author was just gliding over the details and important information. Whether this was intentional or not, I found it slightly frustrating.

The story had so many different aspects to it, which I loved. There was plenty of Folklore, fairies, magic, weapons and battles to keep any fantasy and post-apocalyptic enthusiasts entertained for a while. At first, I wasn’t sure how I felt about all these different aspects, seeing as I at first I thought it was just a Zombie novel, but the more I read the more interesting and appealing it was. Along with being a post-apocalyptic novel, we meet another super-natural being – which I thought was totally out of place at first – but looking back, I realised it helped make the novel what it was.

Overall, I enjoyed reading this book; it had so many different twists and turns that I never knew what would happen next. Unfortunately, I did only rate it 3/5 stars because of the aspects mentioned above. Melanie Karsak’s writing was completely different from what I’ve read before and I’ll be sure to check out the sequel to this book, The Shadow Aspect, when it’s released!

Quotes

“If you ever need to slice someone’s head off, this is the blade you want,” I said as I lifted a curved sword off the table in front of me. - Loc 49, 1%.

“Layla, we need more weapons. We’ve cleared out the Lewis’ shop and the Sheriff’s Office, but it’s still not enough. And we really need more ammo,” Will said.
“What about the VFW? They got anything there?” I asked.
Will shook his head. “Just antiques.”
“They’ve got a working cannon. We could use that,” Jeff said.
“Dude, what are you gonna do with a cannon? We’re not fighting the British Armada,” Will replied. Jeff gave Will the finger. - Loc 984, 23%.

KiKi pulled off the headphones. I dropped the paper and pushed open the window. “Jump,” I told KiKi. Following behind her, I bounced out of the window. For the second time, I landed on the roof of the porch. I did not like that this was becoming a trend. - Loc 2919, 69%.

Review: Light of the Moon by David James

Title: Light of the Moon.
Series: Legend of the Dreamer, #1.
Author: David James.
Publication Date: November 6th, 2012.
Publisher: Create Space.
Format: .pdf eBook, 373 pages.
Source: eARC Provided By Author.
My Rating:



Stars. Fire. Blood. Magic.

One night long ago, a constellation disappeared and fell from the sky in the form of a boy.
Secrets are being kept in the sleepy town of Lakewood Hollow, Colorado. Nothing but pools of blood and dripping words are left where bodies once were, and no one but Calum Wade seems to be worried. Life unfolds in shades of red for Calum, until a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrolls at his school and everything changes. Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons, elemental enchanters, and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars have forever held his destiny, and that the constellations above are much more than what they seem.

As Kate and Calum sink deep into a paranormal war, they realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. But life is not so easy for Calum, and he can feel his heart beat faster whenever Kate is close. Worse, Kate's blood holds a dark secret even more dangerous than the war between the demons and enchanters. Soon the two find that there are worse things than loving someone you shouldn't. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.

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Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life.”

Calum’s family life fell apart when his dad left years ago. Ever since then, his mum broke into pieces and can barely look at him – so Calum has to try and deal with the burning emotion inside him alone. All across the country, people are going missing, being murdered and words are being written across their walls in their own blood. The News crews are calling this person the Bloodletter – and the Bloodletter is getting dangerously close to Calum’s quiet town. One day a mysterious girl named Kate Black enrols at his school and everything changes.

Suddenly a dangerous world of dream demons and blood witches unfurls before Calum. He learns that the stars hold his destiny, and that the constellations that he sits and watches at night are much more than he ever knew. Calum and Kate find themselves caught right in the middle of a paranormal war where they find out they’re more than just basic players in the game. They realize that an ancient prophecy might hold the answers they seek. For Calum and Kate, even love and the fiery power of stars may not be enough to break a curse as dark as the blood that binds their destiny.

I wanted to like Light of the Moon, I really did. This book was a frustration in itself for me and personally, it wasn’t my cup of tea. It was not because the novel wasn’t well written, it was written beautifully. However, there were too many things that irritated me and the storyline was a bit confusing and hard to follow a lot of the time. It took me quite a while to finish reading Light of the Moon, mainly because I kept getting frustrated at the book and putting it down after a few pages – but I was determined to finish it.

I want to start off with talking about Calum’s character, although it’s hard to know where to start. I really didn’t like Calum at all; I didn’t think he was actually a very strong male protagonist. To be perfectly honest, I thought he acted and spoke a bit like a girl at times – which isn’t bad – but when you’re trying to create a strong male lead with a destiny to fulfil, I think the character needs to be more headstrong. He just didn’t seem to fit the character profile I had in my mind before reading this book. I’m not saying all male characters should be like this, and Calum did have his good points; he was sweet, kind and cared a lot about his friends. These characteristics are a must for me, and even though I didn’t really like Calum, he definitely fulfilled them.

As for Kate’s character; I didn’t mind her – although she’s definitely not winning my ‘favourite character of the year’ award. Kate is definitely determined, smart, and generally a strong-willed person. I didn’t think she had a whole lot of personality other than that really, and the only times she showed some genuine characteristics were when she was acting snappy and blunt. However, you can also tell how much she cares for her younger sisters and wants them back. It was pretty incredible to see the lengths she would go through to get them back to her safe and sound. Kate was definitely a dark character with an intense past and it was interesting to find out more and more about her damaged past throughout the book.

Light of the Moon is written in the two perspectives of Calum and Kate, swopping between the two every time a chapter ended. I love multiple perspectives in books, because it’s always amazing to read what the other character is thinking and feeling – rather than trying to guess. There were some pretty amazing quotes throughout this book, it’s a shame I can’t list them all. This may not be that interesting to some people, but I do love reading quotes that make me shiver and feel the emotion put into the words.

I didn’t completely hate this book; it had its up points at times and it made me feel connected to the characters on a few rare occasions. Would I recommend this book to other people? Possibly – It’ll depend on the people’s preferences – it’s quite a heavy read in my opinion. However, over all I believe the 3/5 star rating I gave it fits it perfectly – although I am quite disappointed I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. I did love David’s writing, even if I didn’t particularly like the story – in the future I’ll definitely want to read more from him.

Quotes

The truth was that I could see the good things in my life, but they were all singed with dark, burnt edges that would never fade. All the good seemed to burn away before I had a chance to keep it. Good and gone.
Fall.
I closed my eyes-
Fall there.
Opened them, and pretended the leaves were stars.
Fall.
And then it did.
A heart-shaped leaf of brilliant red, brighter than all the rest, dropped from the sky like a star through the night, and landed in the exact spot my eyes watched. It was violently red, like blood on the green grass, except for edges that were turned up, brown and curled and dying. - Page 71, 19%.

Beyond the Doors of Judgment was cold darkness, and the icy air of reality made me realize one thing: No matter what, I was a Warrior to the bone. My blood was hot with angry strength. My soul filled with courage. I would not be weak in front of the Elders. I threw Calum’s hand off mine. I couldn’t let myself be close to him, not now. The Order thought strength and courage could not be found in love. - Page 249, 66%.

I shook my head. “This person you are right now, this is who a Warrior should be. Not that girl you were before, the one that was cold as ice and afraid to show me anything. You, Kate, crying right now for someone you just lost? Someone you loved? You look like you could take on the world. Don’t you see that tears, feelings, make you stronger? Loving and losing and hating and caring: Feelings give you reason to fight. They destroy you and build you up again. They can kill you and then give you life. That’s not weakness, Kate. It’s strength.” - Page 276, 73%.

Review: Anthem For Jackson Dawes by Celia Bryce

Title: Anthem for Jackson Dawes.
Author: Celia Bryce.
Publication Date: January 1st, 2013.
Publisher: Bloomsbury.
Format: Paperback, 230 pages.
Source: Provided By Publisher.
My Rating:



When Megan Bright arrives in hospital for her first cancer treatment, there is only one other teenager there – Jackson Dawes. He is cute, rebellious...and infuriating. Even so, Megan finds herself slowly and surely drawn to him.

But so is everybody. Jackson is a whirlwind of life and energy, warmth and sparkle. Megan will need some of his extraordinary optimism as they face the difficult times ahead.

An uplifting story of bravery, loss and love against the odds.


Website | Good Reads Celia Bryce was born and raised in Jarrow and still lives on Tyneside. She is a teacher of creative writing, writes for the stage and radio and performs in schools, and also fronts a country rock band, The Katy Freeway.

Review

I was sent a copy of this book by Bloomsbury publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Megan Bright has just been diagnosed with cancer and is admitted to a children’s ward in hospital to undergo treatment. She’s sullen, upset that it’s messing with her life and annoyed by all the dancing elephants on the walls and babies on the ward. Megan’s so secluded and frustrated that she doesn’t notice Jackson Dawes until he runs into her; literally! Whilst everyone is star-struck by Jackson and his happy-go-lucky personality – including her mother - Megan would rather roll her eyes and try to ignore him. Except; Jackson doesn’t get ignored, ever.

Jackson keeps pushing, and slowly his contagious personality wears Megan down. He fills her drab and dreary world with colour and lights, distracting her from the foreboding treatment she’s undergoing. Jackson seems like the only one who understands what she’s going through and they grow closer and closer with each and every day. All this is good, considering the tricking times ahead they both will have to face.

Anthem for Jackson Dawes was an interesting novel to read with a very emotional storyline. I was expecting a blossoming romance between Megan and Jackson, but I was disappointed to find that the romance was very thin on the ground. The book suggests a budding relationship, but from how I read it, there was a beautiful friendship with no proper romance at all; which was sad, but not the end of the world.

I’m still a bit on the fence on how I feel about Megan’s character. Her personality wasn’t overly well developed and she acted very stroppy and rude at the beginning of the novel. However, as the book progresses, she does develop and transforms into a much nicer, more carefree character. Her entire change is all to do with Jackson. At first, Megan doesn’t want to accept she has cancer, and acts like no one else in the entire world can understand how she’s feeling. But slowly and surely, Jackson creeps under her skin, lifting her spirit and bringing light back into her life. Even though by the end of the book we still don’t know a whole lot more about Megan, I believe we have a better understanding of her.

Jackson is a ray of light, bursting through the sky and a whirlwind exploding into hundreds of different colours. He is such a bubbly character and I loved this determination to break the rules and to try and live every day as if it were his last. Jackson is loved especially by the little kids, he tells stories and plays games with them to try and distract them from the bad cancer cells. Even though the book doesn’t really go into much more detail about Jackson’s character either, I thought he was really memorable and had this charm and way about him that made you unable to hate him and his optimism.

There were a few aspects of this book that really annoyed me, but the thing that I kept picking up on the most was; ‘Will I get a nurse?’ and ‘Will I come round there?’ This phrasing was used quite a bit and thoroughly frustrated me. First off; it’s doesn’t make sense – the correct way to say the sentence should be; ‘Shall I get a nurse?’ or ‘Shall I come round there?’ I’m a big fan of punctuation and grammar and this really bugged me every time someone spoke like it throughout the book. Now, this maybe the way the people talk in the book from their part of the country, but I’ve never heard anyone speak like that before.

Overall, I really did enjoy reading this book, it made me cry but I wasn’t connected to the book as I thought I would be. The writing, albeit lovely at times, was also rather confusing and I found it frustrating that it skipped from one scene to another so quickly. I believe that writing about the whole concept of being in hospital for chemo is a tricky and sensitive subject, but Celia writes about it in a truthful and honest way. I also believe that, given the subject matter and the fact that there can’t be a whole lot of variation to it, she did an excellent job. If it weren’t for those these things that nagged me, this book would of easily gotten a 4/5 stars. However, those things are there and I think that my 3/5 stars rating reflects that it’s a great novel, even with its fault. Celia Bryce is definitely a writer to look out for and I would recommend Anthem for Jackson Dawes to anyone who loves to have their heart broken. (In a good way of course!)

Quotes

        Kipper sniffed and snuggled in a little nearer, so that Megan could feel every angle of the girl's
        body next to hers and the smooth bald head burrowed under her chin. It felt remarkably warm
        and not quite bald, but slightly downy, like a baby's. - Page 71.

        Megan watched as everything about her, everything that said who she was, slid down her
        shoulders and cascaded to the floor, like leaves shaken from a dying tree. - Page 125.

        Megan sat in Jackson's chair, in the hollow that he'd made, so that it held her, hugging her
        whole body. She laid her hands on the armrests where his fingers sometimes tapped out a tune,
        found herself pecking at the wood with her nails. She breathed, slowly and deeply, the air
        Jackson had breathed that very morning. She could almost feel him there in the room, as if he'd
        left some part of himself behind, just for her. - Page 155.

Review: Generation Dead by Daniel Waters

Title: Generation Dead.
Series: Generation Dead, #1.
Author: Daniel Waters.
Publication Date: May 6th, 2008.
Publisher: Simon and Schuster.
Format: Paperback, 393 pages.
Source: Bought.
My Rating:



The dead boy reached for her, his pale eyes glowing in the darkness.

All over the country, teenagers who die aren't staying dead. Against her better judgement, Phoebe finds herself drawn to Tommy Williams. He's gorgeous, funny, on the football team. And dead. But not everybody is as accepting as Phoebe. There are those who would like the rid the community of this sinister phenomenon, and they'll stop at nothing to achieve it...

Phoebe is pretty much like any other teenage girl, apart from the fact that she’s a Goth. Oh, and the fact that she has a crush on a guy named Tommy, who just happens to be a Zombie. All over America, teenagers who die aren’t staying dead – in fact, they’re getting up and walking away from the morgue. A scarce few of the population are fine with this, and are intrigued as to why this is happening. However, the rest of the society isn’t so accepting of the ‘living impaired’, especially when they want to go back to school and live a normal life. People avoid them, the teenagers skirting round them in the corridors and avoiding eye-contact. There are many of people out there who want the dead, well – dead, and will stop at nothing to do so.

I had been looking forward to reading this book for quite a while; however I was quite disappointed in it to say the least. I have to say; I expected more of a Zombie-Human romance story - however it focused more on the aspect of discrimination/prejudice of the Zombie’s or ‘differently biotic’ teenagers (As society is supposed to call them).

The book is told by three different people’s point of views; Phoebe, Adam and Pete – three of our four main characters throughout the book. First off, meet Phoebe - a full-on Goth, who listens to heavy rock music and writes poetry whilst dreaming of being held by a member of the living dead. Phoebe is the character that the storyline bases around and to be perfectly honest, I’m on the fence on whether I really liked her or not. The way she acts throughout some of the book irritated me. Although, her general character was well developed and it was different to read about her and her life. It was interesting to read about a proper Goth character, rather than characters that claim to be Goth, yet never seem to fit the ‘mix’.

Moving onwards; let me introduce Tommy Williams. Tommy is Phoebe’s crush, and the reason the Football team has got its knickers in a twist. He’s a Zombie - big shock there, right? Tommy, like most of the ‘differently biotic’ teenagers, takes a while to get full sentences out, walks rather slowly and is the ‘leader’ of the un-dead kids. There’s not a lot to Tommy’s character, apart from the fact that he seems to like Phoebe, but I guess there’s not much to say about someone whose main characteristics are gone and is a living corpse.

Now, please welcome Pete, a rude and nasty Zombie hater. If I were to allow myself to use more strong language about how much of an ass Pete's character is, I think it’d have to be censored for younger readers. It's not JUST the fact that he hates the Zombies, it's the fact that he thinks it's his DUTY to 'rid the world' of these 'abominations'. The fact that he can’t even let the ‘Zombie’s’ do normal day to day things in life – say, playing on the football team - to him it’s not natural. How is any of it natural at all? In real life, do the dead suddenly get up and walk away? No. But the Zombie’s in this book are obviously here to stay. People are going to continue to become Zombies after death – whether a Zombie plays on the football team or not – so why the heck should the rest of the team care?! Pete obviously doesn’t care about equality and wants rid of the Zombie’s and anyone who’s friends with them. Great guy, huh?

Lastly, let’s give a warm round of applause for Adam – one of Phoebe’s best friends and the cute guy that lives next door to her. Adam is also on the Football team and used to be good friends with Pete, until Pete decided to start a ‘war’ of sorts against the Zombie’s. Adam took Tommy’s side, and stood up for him throughout the book. However, at the beginning, the only reason he did so, was because Adam has the hots for Phoebe; who’s obviously Pro-Zombie. Adam’s character starts off seeming like a usual jock/popular guy, however as the book moves on he really develops into a caring and interesting guy. He drops the whole ‘cool’ act and actually becomes friends with the un-dead kids - he actually starts to care about what happens to them.

It took me quite a while to actually get into this book; It only started to get vaguely interesting well over half way through. In my opinion there was way too much Football talk and action involved. With me not being a sporty person at all, I was bored nearly to tears reading the Football scenes and nearly gave up on the book on several occasions. However, I was determined to finish this book and it turned out to have a better ending than I expected. I knew that I was going to give it 3/5 stars whilst I was still reading the book, mainly because it just didn’t captivate me or interest me enough. I did hope that once I’d finished it I’d be able to bump it up a star, but the overall book just didn’t do it for me. In conclusion, it was a good read, one I may probably read again one day and I’ll probably pick up the sequel to see what happens next – seeing as it was left on a cliff-hanger. Was it the best book I've read? Definitely not. Would I recommend it to a friend? Probably not.

Quotes

"So you never told me how practice was," Phoebe said, turning to look out the windshield. "How was it playing with the corpsicle?" - Page 70.

"She felt Tommy's light touch on her arm. "The music is ... loud?" Tommy said.
"Very."
"We will ... turn it down," he said. "It takes much ... to make the ... dead ... feel." - Page 169.

Phoebe's pulse was racing through her as she struggled for a responce. She wanted to say something to Tommy, something that would make things better for him, but the only response she could come up with was one she was not ready to give. - Page 380.